If you claim to be completely impartial you’re lying to yourself. No matter who you are there is someone or some people who may rub you the wrong way. Maybe you just find yourself annoyed more easily or perhaps it's a seething hatred. Either way, it comes from a place of sinful partiality and it doesn’t belong in the church. As Pastor Ricky reminds us, our God is perfectly impartial. If you can’t bring yourself to interact with a certain group or person you need to surrender that attitude to the love of Christ.
What Jesus Did Next - What Jesus Does With Discrimination, Part 2
Are you so stuck in your biases or regulations that you have trouble seeing Christ at work? What would you do if a new believer stood up in church and delivered an authentic but explicative laced account of what Christ is doing in their lives, or perhaps invited you out for drinks following a service? Not to condone foul language or alcohol use but as Pastor Ricky asks us in today’s message, is your first response offense to someone breaking the rules or do you rejoice over someone who is on a new journey with your Savior?
What Jesus Did Next - What Jesus Does With Discrimination, Part 1
Why is it that the Church so often reflects the weaknesses and dysfunction of our culture instead of the unity and strength found in our Savior? Our culture is pushing for unity and tolerance but it’s going about it the wrong way. We allow the dividing lines of culture to cut through the church and foster hatred in our hearts. As Pastor Ricky challenges us in today’s message, we should be known for our love. That love is one that looks through weakness and sees Christ in the least amongst us.
What Jesus Did Next - How Jesus Breaks the Barrier, Part 3
We are all guilty of this. Even the most tolerant people if they dig deep down, they can find prejudices mostly likely towards those people they deem to be intolerant. As Pastor Ricky continues to examine the way that Jesus moved the church forward following His ascension, he challenges us to start moving toward the unifying love and grace that characterizes the kingdom of God. Stop building walls between yourself and “those” people and instead try inviting them to the table with you.
What Jesus Did Next - How Jesus Breaks the Barrier, Part 2
You were marked as unclean the moment you entered this world. Even before you were conscious of it, you were sinning. You were placing self above others and especially above God. In doing so you built up barriers and justified your own sin and selfishness while judging others' worth based on their sins and differences. As Pastor Ricky reminds us in today’s message, Christ brings an end to all of that. He makes you clean and makes anyone who asks clean. In that abundant grace, you can find unity.
What Jesus Did Next - How Jesus Breaks the Barrier, Part 1
Prejudice isn’t always based on color of skin or geographic origin and it can range from a subtle bias to a raging anger. As Pastor Ricky warns in today’s message, this area of your heart and life tends to be one of the last ones to be addressed as you seek to walk in holiness with Christ. Instead of getting defensive or distancing yourself from a specific group that makes you uncomfortable, examine your heart and pray for the love and grace of Christ to flow from you to all people.
What Jesus Did Next - How Jesus Changes Enemies to Emissaries, Part 2
Paul had encountered many Christians in his life, many of them devoted believers willing to suffer and die for their Savior. You’d think that would have been enough to turn him but it wasn’t. As Pastor Ricky reminds us in today’s message, it’s vital that we bring people to Jesus. Paul had to encounter Christ firsthand to change his heart. You don’t need to present 7-step plans or gospel cubes, those might be helpful aids at times but ultimately you need to show Jesus to the world around you.
What Jesus Did Next - How Jesus Changes Enemies to Emissaries, Part 1
You may not feel like your salvation experience is comparable to Paul’s. As a fervent Jew, he was a devout enemy of Christ who experienced a dramatic and abrupt conversion. Maybe your actions and life weren’t so overtly anti-Christ but all of us were enemies of Christ at one time. As Pastor Ricky reminds us in today’s message, no matter where you come from your story is a beautiful one of grace and redemption in Christ and you should celebrate it by sharing that grace with those around you.
Build - Who Leads the Church Under Jesus, Part 2
Did you know that you belong to a royal priesthood and God desires to use you in unison with the rest of the body of Christ to further His kingdom? Every member in the church has the responsibility to act as a priest and lead others to Christ. Christ gave the Great Commission to go and preach the gospel and make disciples. It was not the “Great Suggestion”. The Lord calls you to invite unbelievers into your life in order to build relationships and minister to them. Are you being obedient?
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work is Unstoppable, Part 3
Sometimes, even as a believer, you might be more of a hindrance to the gospel than a proponent of it. Maybe it’s allowing your old selfish nature to come through and overtake your new nature. Perhaps it’s trying to apply your own wisdom in presenting the gospel instead of surrendering to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to work in and through you. Whatever form it may take, as Pastor Ricky explains in today’s message, there is good news. Christ specializes in using imperfect vessels.
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work is Unstoppable, Part 2
Your life should be one of mission. If you’re a believer, you’ve been called to carry the gospel. For most of us that doesn’t mean training to be in full-time ministry as a pastor or foreign missionary. As Pastor Ricky explains in today’s message, you have a mission right where you are. Your family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors need Jesus and you may be one of the only believers that they know who is willing to step out of their comfort zone and share His love with them.
Build - Who Leads the Church Under Jesus, Part 1
Today Pastor Ricky will be teaching on the church structure, what makes up the leadership, and the congregation. The nature of the congregation is likened to a body, with all body parts interconnected yet unique in purpose. In the body of Christ, some have the gifts of teaching, prophecy, hospitality, and mercy, along with many other different gifts. The question is, are you using your gifts to further the kingdom of God? You don’t need to be a leader in order to be used by God.
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work is Unstoppable, Part 1
From the moment Jesus took His first breath in the flesh, He faced opposition. He was the reason that Herod committed one of the greatest atrocities recorded in scripture, the massacre of thousands of innocent children, all in an effort to stop Jesus. Throughout all of His earthly ministry and in the thousands of years since, His church has faced heavy opposition. Yet as Pastor Ricky points out, it has just kept going and growing despite all of this because God is at work in it.
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work in Our Growing Pains, Part 2
Leadership doesn’t just happen from a stage. Only a few people are genuinely called to take on that role. But there is so much more to the church than just listening to songs and sermons on Sunday morning. It is a refuge for the lost and a base of operations for spiritual rescue teams that go out to offer hope to the hopeless. As Pastor Ricky challenges us in today’s message, embrace your calling to servant leadership. Whether you’re in the spotlight or not, you are important and necessary in this body.
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work in Our Growing Pains, Part 1
Our concept of a successful church is quite a bit different from the early church as we’ll encounter in today’s passage. When we see a church whose numbers are steadily increasing, requiring a bigger building or new satellite congregations every couple of years, we assume that that is a truly successful church. But as Pastor Ricky points out, attendance alone is not a good measure of health. An easy message coupled with fun music can bring in crowds but you have to ask, are true disciples being made?
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work Despite Opposition, Part 2
There has been a movement amongst some Christians to take a militant stance against the lost world. Whether it's through the ineffective use of memes on social media, picketing, or politicking, this approach doesn’t mesh with Jesus’ sacrificial love. As Pastor Ricky reminds us in today’s message, if you’re truly living out your faith, you will face opposition but in the midst of that, it’s important to remember that your real enemy is not flesh and blood but forces of Satan at work in the hearts of man.
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work Despite Opposition, Part 1
Jesus thrives in the face of opposition. If you look at cultures through the centuries that have outlawed Christianity, you don’t see a pattern of people abandoning their faith and dying out in that place. It's in those places where the enemy is hardest at work that Jesus comes to life in the hearts of His followers and spreads like fire. As Pastor Ricky reminds us in today’s message, while the battles of life will continue, Jesus has won the victory and His kingdom is actively growing in this world.
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work in the Message, Part 2
The gift of public speaking is a powerful one. People can be persuaded to good just as they can to evil. Emotions can be stirred to anger, sorrow, or joy. But the gospel doesn’t require this gift to be effective, its power is in Christ. As Pastor Ricky continues our study of how Jesus has been at work since His ascension, he reminds us that the apostles, Peter included, were not generally well-educated or trained in the art of public speaking. Yet through them, God has had an impact on millions of people.
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work in the Message, Part 1
Most religions of the world dictate what you have to do in order to attain God-like status or favor with God. This puts you in a place to boast of your own self-discipline and commitment. That’s not how Christianity is supposed to work. As Pastor Ricky reminds us in today’s message, your only boast should be in Jesus. Your salvation isn’t based off of anything that you did. It only required that you trust in Jesus and He did everything else to bring you into right relationship with His father.
What Jesus Did Next - Jesus at Work in a Miracle, Part 3
God can, and sometimes does, work supernaturally to meet a need or provide healing. But as Pastor Ricky challenges us to ask in today’s message, how often do you pray for someone in need knowing full well that you have the resources to help them? Keep on praying, that’s good, but ask yourself if God might want to use you to facilitate that miracle in someone’s life. As a member of His church, a physical extension of Christ in this world, you need to be open to act when God gives you the opportunity.